Groelle said more outreach is needed to educate doctors about painkiller abuse, which sometimes leads to heroin abuse.

“It is my goal to get 100 percent participation by prescribers in our statewide Prescription Monitoring Program, which is the system for physicians to report the prescriptions that they write,” Groelle said in his press release.

Spoden said his office has reached out to the medical community.

“Something like this would've been a great topic for him to bring to the command staff meeting, but I have yet to hear from him on it,” Spoden said.

If it's this important, the idea shouldn't wait until after the election, Spoden added.

Groelle said fewer command-staff meetings have been held recently and that Spoden has said he is doing that to keep Groelle out of the loop.

Spoden denied he has said this and said command staff meetings are not on a regular schedule. He said one meeting was held April 22, when Groelle was on vacation, and Groelle attended a meeting two weeks before that.

Groelle also said he has been denied the opportunity to attend training sessions three or four times since he began his campaign, which had not happened in the past.

Spoden said he does not deal with those requests; they go through Cmdr. Troy Knudson. The office has limited money for training, so requests must be prioritized, Spoden said.

“Gary should know this because he oversees training. He should understand this,” Spoden said.

The candidates agreed the sheriff's office has worked on heroin education and enforcement.

Groelle said he is working on his own time with an independent group to give Good Drugs Gone Bad presentations about the link between prescription painkillers and heroin.

Groelle said he recently attended the National Prescription Drug Abuse Summit in Atlanta on his vacation time and brought back new ideas.

Spoden said a major issue is a dearth of treatment facilities for heroin addicts. He hopes “community partners” will provide those.

Groelle issued a press release Wednesday with a list of measures he said should be taken, including the following:

-- More needs to be done to combat the growing heroin threat, Groelle said.

Spoden said five years ago, when heroin was becoming worrisome here, he lobbied federal officials for the county to be designated a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.

The program allows law enforcement to apply for grants. The sheriff's office recently received a $59,000 grant for officer drug enforcement, including officer overtime, Spoden said.

Spoden said deputies regularly participate in joint operations with other agencies to raid drug houses.